For those of you that have access, this weeks assignment is to be a critic. Review the photographs of those involved in the assignment and make comments to their photo's. No Mr. nice guy (or girl). Find things that you actually think will help the photograph. Be specific. Mention likes and dislikes. Rate 1 to 10. In the end the photographer should have a clear picture as to how you think the photo may improve with the subject involved. My photo above is waiting for your critique and observations. I have had it filed for some time. As you follow my blog one thing you will notice that is a preference of mine is to limit the clutter in a photograph. Is there a limit to how little can be in a photo? To each his own interpretation.
The lovely bird above has a very unique feature. It's red eye. My goal was to find this guy in an area that would compliment his feature with a complimentary color. But not over power it. Overpower an eye ball? You know what I mean. The subject is the bird. The "statement" is his eye. In all aspects of visual perspective your eyes are drawn to red first. In almost the same way the eye is drawn to bright spot(s) in a photograph. So my goal here was to have a complimentary color to the red eye. Also to have very little distraction in the photograph to keep the eye the "statement" in the photo.
5 comments:
Dad, I think this is a great photo. I believe that you accomplished what you set out to do, the background is uncluttered, I was instantly drawn to his eye. Also, the composition is good. Because you position him on the side (following the rule of thirds), he has somewhere to swim. The wake of water behind him implies movement and the reflection adds to the aesthetic. Very well done.
............and it's beautiful....ha ha. I said it!!
p.s. About my lines #2 photo, it was a bunch of metal poles/bars under your deck. hee hee!
Um...you're making this assignment very difficult with an awesome picture like that. How are we supposed to find any faults with that? I think the composition is great and I appreciate the uncluttered scene. I guess if I had to find something- I would say(and this is being very, very picky) that there are some kind of spots in the water in the upper right hand side that seem to distract from the lines in the water and there's a very tiny speck on the reflection between the neck and body of the bird. Like I said- that's being ridiculously picky and only by staring at the picture for a long time is that even noticeable. Also, my eye wants to see a tiny bit more of the wake because it seems cutoff in the middle of a curve and that seems a bit harsh. Does that make sense? Anyway- this is very difficult to do since I couldn't reproduce any of your work in a million years.
Wonderful. I have held this photo for some time for the very reason Alea mentioned. The blemishes in the water are in fact "copy stamps" Where I had dust from my sensor. Good eye Alea. I love the photo but have not published it for those reasons.
Jim, I love this assignment. I don't see how you expect us to give you any pointers though...too much talent and experience on your side!
Love the photo, red really does draw the eye. Here is what I think:
First of all, I am not sure this counts as critique. These are mostly just things that I would have tried, and maybe you tried them and didn't like them. Maybe if I saw this pic with the changes I mention I wouldn't like it. Please take this all with a grain of salt.
I can certainly appreciate your desire to keep your photos uncluttered, don't want to steal attention from your subject, however...I have found that sometimes pulling back, or changing your angle to include some background or "noise" can help tell some of the story. For instance is the bird in opposition to its surroundings, is it swimming in the pond by the freeway? Is there a predator lying in wait on the opposite shore? Man I sure would care more about the bird if there were! Now I know that if any of the above were the case the photo would have reflected that but sometimes the story can be much more subtle than that. Don't be afraid to explore "noise".
My eye is screaming for two things. First of all, more reflection. I wonder if you were to shoot from a more overhead angle if you could have gotten that. Strong symmetry is also very attractive to the eye. You have done well but I want to see just a little bit more (man, Alea thinks she is being picky!). Second, I want to see more of the wake. I know that the composition rule for wildlife photography is to shoot the animal moving into the frame and giving it somewhere to go, but I wonder what breaking that rule would do to focus more attention on the subject i.e. the line of the birds wake leading the eye to the bird.
Now I know that shooting wildlife is not like taking pictures of buildings, or mountains, or people, or things. You are limited in your opportunities. You can't always change your position to get another angle etc. I'll bet with some careful planning though, I'll bet you could find a way.
Technically this is a very nice photo. The exposure is perfect, great texture and detail in the shadow areas of the water being broken in front of him and in his wake, lighting conditions were ideal. Color is good, I wonder if my eyesight is blurry, or if there is a sharpness issue, especially around the eye. If there is, it isn't huge. On a scale of 1-10 I would have to say 9.999999 for sure just cause I would have liked to have seen what some of the things I mentioned would have done for the photo. Chances are they wouldn't have done a thing and I should have given you a 10!
How's that for picky!? Hope I wasn't to harsh...Don't beat me up now...
Wow....I think you all should kick Dan out!!! :-)
Post a Comment